The GRAMMY Awards relied heavily on Shure gear to support the audio requirements of what is considered by organisers as ‘music’s biggest night’
Broadcast live for the first time ever from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the 64th GRAMMY Awards were full of performances supported by the reliable sound of Shure wireless audio technology. As in years prior, the majority of the night’s performances featured Shure Axient Digital wireless microphones used by some of the industry’s most iconic names and innovative artists.
The live broadcast of the 64th GRAMMY Awards show was overseen by Audio Producer, Michael Abbott and his long-time team of accomplished audio engineers and sound technicians. “Our team knows we can depend on Shure gear to capture the high-quality sound of the GRAMMY Awards,” said Abbott. “Shure consistently provides a reliable frequency coordination solution for in-ear monitors and wireless microphones for the artists performing on the broadcast.”
Behind the scenes, Chris Rabold, FOH mixer for GRAMMY winning Silk Sonic, was overseeing their performance with the support of Shure Axient Digital. “Having Bruno and Anderson and the whole Silk Sonic gang on Axient Digital for not only the GRAMMYs, but for their Las Vegas residency is just such a no brainer,” shared Rabold. “There are things you do, decisions you make, from a live audio perspective that are done out of preference and then there are the things you do because it’s simply the smart move. For us, Axient is the latter of the two.”
All of the night’s performances relied on the clarity and flexibility of Shure Axient Digital Wireless. Key supplier ATK Audiotek made this possible by providing the sound system design and implementation for the show. Overall, the GRAMMYs relied on 28 channels of Shure Axient Digital. The production handheld microphones were all Shure KSM9’s and the lavalier microphones were Shure TwinPlex TL47.
Nearly every performance the entire evening depended on the Shure PSM 1000 in-ear monitoring system, totaling 34 channels. Notably, 250 Shure hand-wired microphones were orchestrated throughout the event on the many instruments that graced the GRAMMY stage. Shure Beta 181’s were used to mic the piano throughout the show. “Once again, the Beta 181’s provided perfect piano sound for our needs,” said Ron Reeves, FOH Engineer.
Given the sheer amount of wireless used throughout the show, frequency coordination was pivotal to creating a seamless production for those in-person and tuning in from home. Managing the frequencies was Soundtronic RF Coordinator, Steve Vaughn. “For another year, Shure Axient Digital and Wireless Workbench have proven the most reliable, quality solution at the GRAMMYs for managing and maximising every frequency in a completely saturated RF spectrum in Las Vegas,” said Vaughn. “This level of dependability is exactly what we have come to expect from our Shure gear.”